The Suns’ 2010 Western Conference finals team had star power but needed scoring power to be at its best.

When shooting guard Jason Richardson scored at least 20 points, that team went 26-4.

This season’s interim shooting guard, Gerald Green, is having a similar effect on a team whose 30-20 record is one game better than the 2009-10 team’s 50-game mark. The Suns have been going Green, winning each of the past 10 games that Green has scored 20 points or more.

It is easy to say the Suns go as Green or others do because it is an ensemble effort. It relies on that support for its star, Goran Dragic, especially in the absence of Eric Bledsoe. The Suns are 14-10 when Dragic scores 20. But with complementary scorers, they fare even better. The team’s records for 20-point games by Markieff Morris (8-2) and Channing Frye (7-2) are more like that for Green (10-3), a fill-in starter.

One of the better facets about how Green scored in Saturday night’s 122-109 victory against Golden State was that it did not require hot 3-point shooting. Green is ninth in the NBA for made 3-pointers (116), but eight of the 10 shots he made Saturday came inside the arc, and he drew fouls for 11 free-throw attempts.

“When the season first started, it was all perimeter and layups and easy buckets,” Green said. “Now, I’m mixing it up and taking midrange game. A lot of guys are running me off the 3-point line, so I’m able to get that 17-, 18-foot jumper. I’m trying to go to the free-throw line more. I’m trying to do more things to create easy baskets.

“When you got guys like Goran Dragic, who is drawing double teams and triple teams almost, it just makes it a lot easier for other players to be successful.”

The Suns are 7-11 when Green shoots less than 40 percent in a game, like the previous two losses in which he went 7 for 27 against Chicago and Houston.

“You feel comfortable with him posting up a guy that’s littler because he can jump over the top of guys,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Not many guys can get a good-looking shot off anytime they want. He’s one of those guys, because of his athletic ability, (who) can.

“He’s made much better decisions of when to shoot and when not to shoot lately, and consequently I think he’s playing better.”

Green is a necessary scorer as a starter more than a bonus one off the bench. Because of Dragic’s and Bledsoe’s injuries, he has started 32 of 50 games and averaged 15.3 points as a starter with 43.8 percent shooting. That scoring average would rank 13th among NBA shooting guards but even his overall 13.9 average is 17th.

“Right now, I’m the starting two guard of this team, so I feel like I have to do more,” Green said. “If I have off games and we lose, I take the initiative to myself like I feel we lost because of me, because I wasn’t more productive.”

Goodwin recalled

The Suns recalled rookie guard Archie Goodwin after he averaged 24.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 turnovers in 29.7 minutes per game over three games with D-League affiliate Bakersfield.

Goodwin made 55 percent of his shots, including five of 14 3s, and had a Saturday night finish that resembled Dragic’s close against Golden State.

Just after Dragic scored 13 of his career-high 34 points in the final 6:56, Goodwin posted 16 of his 28 points in the final 6:47 of Bakersfield’s win.

Free throws

The Suns went from giving up 90 points and 53 percent shooting over the first three quarters to allowing 19 points on 35-percent shooting in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win against the Warriors.

“We did an excellent job of putting pressure on guys, helping each other out, making every shot they take a tough shot,” Hornacek said.

Besides Dragic’s career high in scoring on Saturday, Suns forward P.J. Tucker tied a career high for steals (four) and set a career high for rebounds (15), a rare feat on the boards for a small forward.

“He’s strong so if he can at least get a hand on it, he usually comes down with it,” Hornacek said.

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